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Founded in 1792, Raleigh is still a staid government town. The charming downtown has some neat museums and galleries, and the foodie and music scene is on the come-up. Raleigh is home to North Carolina State University and constitutes part of the Research Triangle, along with Durham and Chapel Hill. The "Triangle" originated after the creation of the Research Triangle Park in 1959, located between the three cities and their respective universities.

Raleigh is an example of an early American planned city, chosen to be the location of the state capital in 1788. Originally laid out in a grid with the State Capitol in the middle, the city was spared from any major battle in the Civil War, though it did have to endure economic hardships during Reconstruction. The twentieth century saw a large influx of people due to jobs created from the Research Triangle area, and it was among the fastest growing communities in the US by the early 2000s.